NEWS RELEASE — July 23, 2007

BUFFALO, NY — People with acute pain or joint injuries, like those that can occur when returning to a sport after a season off, no longer must see a physician for a prescription before scheduling an appointment with a physical therapist. A relatively new law in New York State enables patients to arrange an appointment directly with a licensed physical therapist, without a prescription. The practice, known as direct access, has been advocated by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) for several years and has been a law in several states for more than two decades.

The law stipulates that physical therapists who see direct access patients must have three years or 4320 clock hours in the profession. All of Lifetime Health’s physical therapists exceed this requirement. The law also says patients can only be seen for 10 visits or 30 days, whichever comes first, before they need to see a physician and obtain a prescription to continue. Not all insurance carriers will cover direct access so Brown advises that patients check with their individual plans to see if their appointments will be covered.